


We Have Work To Do

by Echos_of_Blue



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Episode: s15e18 Despair - Castiel's Confession Scene, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:54:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27426052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Echos_of_Blue/pseuds/Echos_of_Blue
Summary: Castiel is gone. Dean is heartbroken. Jack is upset.And Sam - Sam is pissed off.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 7
Kudos: 164





	We Have Work To Do

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I had to write this, even if it is laughably short. I watched my first episode of Supernatural when I was five years old. This is the only fandom I've been truly invested in. I've shipped Destiel since I was twelve and I've been told for years that it would never actually happen. I don't know how to feel now that it's confirmed. I don't know how to feel knowing that everyone who picked out tiny details on tumblr and examined scenes frame by frame were right. We were always right. After years of being told different, we were always right. 
> 
> My dad and I watched Supernatural together for years. We had a bet on Destiel becoming canon. He, like so many others, died earlier this year and although it seems so small in the grand scheme of things, I wish he could have seen these last few episodes. The show meant a lot to us both. 
> 
> To those who are reading this and who have held onto this love story for so many years, against all the odds, I just want to say keep your faith. Let's see this out together, to the very end. Because if Supernatural has taught us anything it is to always keep fighting. We've still got work to do, guys.

And then he was gone. Just gone. 

He said… he said _that_. And then he was gone. 

He was gone and the next thing Dean knew was Sam’s hand on his shoulder. His hand where Cas’s hand had been. He was… shaking him. Or was Dean shaking? 

“Dean, Dean come on, snap out of it,” Sam was saying. “What the hell happened here?” 

Dean’s eyes finally met his brothers and before he was even fully aware of himself, he was staggering to his feet. He looked around the room, willing Castiel to be standing there. 

“Dean? Talk to me, tell me what happened.” 

“Cas,” Dean’s voice caught, his eyes still searching. “He’s gone. It-it took him.” 

“What took him?” 

“The _empty_ , Sam!” There was that anger. The anger that Castiel had promised wasn’t him. It didn’t feel that way now. Anger was all he had to comfort himself, all he had to fall back on. “He - that dumb, son of a bitch! Dammit!” 

“Dean…” 

Finally, Dean looked at his little brother. He saw the fear in his eyes and realized he was feeling the same thing Dean was, to an extent. Castiel was his friend. Jack was behind him, Castiel’s kid. Because he _was_ family and Dean would never forgive himself for convincing himself otherwise. And in that moment, looking at his shattered family, Dean felt that familiar, sweet anger melt away. It was replaced by something much more delicate. Something stronger. 

“The empty, Cas made a deal with it.” 

“No,” Jack stepped forward. “No! It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.” 

“What is _happening_?” Dean heard the anger rise in his little brother’s voice. He couldn’t bring himself to answer. 

“We were supposed to have more time,” Jack said, voice broken. “Castiel said we would. He made a deal for me, that the empty would take him if he experienced a moment of true happiness.” 

“And he didn’t tell us?” Sam ran a hand through his hair. “What could Cas have _possibly_ been that happy about… Dean?” 

“Sammy,” Dean said and he saw Sam’s eyes shift. He realized he was missing something, but couldn’t place it. Dean was sure if he could see his own face… well, he was glad he couldn’t. “He told me he loved me.” 

“What?” Sam’s eyes flared with confusion. 

“You heard me, Sam.” 

“Yeah, I, but…,” Sam searched his eyes. And then there was the understanding. 

And Castiel was still gone. Dean brushed past his little brother and, without looking at Jack, left the room. 

* * *

Sammy found him about an hour later. Dean appreciated the hour that Sam gave him, the hour they didn’t have. He was sitting in their library, staring at a poured drink that he hadn’t touched. 

“I just stood there,” Dean tipped his whiskey tumbler just slightly. “I couldn’t say…” 

“Dean, you don’t have to explain yourself.” 

“I didn’t get to say it back, Sammy.” He couldn't. He was frozen. After all this time, after years and years, and he couldn't say a damn thing. He wanted to hate Cas for doing that - for saying _that_ when he knew he was going to die for it. 

He saw Sam’s jaw clench. “Listen to me.” 

The fire in Sam’s voice had Dean looking up. Was this it, then? Was Sam going to tell him to pull himself to-fucking-gether so they could save the world. Was he going to… 

“This - all of this… all of this death,” Sam’s breathing was unsteady. “That son of a bitch took _Elieen_ and he took everyone else and he… But this isn’t his story, Dean, not anymore. Not after this. I don’t give a _damn_ that he’s God or that he has Amara now or _any_ of that. This is ending because _we_ are going to end it and I will be _damned_ if we don’t get them back. Them all back. Dean, look at me.” 

And Sam’s eyes… they weren’t the eyes he looked into to tell bedtime stories or the eyes that laughed at his stupid jokes. They weren’t the righteous eyes that saved the world, or brave eyes that stood up to every inch of evil the world had to offer. 

They were the eyes that reminded Dean why Sam was the True Vessel of Lucifer. 

“I swear to everything we stand for, that we will get him back. Do you understand me?” 

Dean set his glass down. He nodded. 

“Good,” Sam’s eyes kept that hellfire. “Because we have work to do.” 


End file.
